If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Also be sure to register to view and participate in our forum chat room!

Notice: Hotmail is currently not accepting emails from Provider Module. When registering an account, please use another email provider. We hope to resolve this shortly.

KONG: Skull Island

Just got back from this movie and, while I still consider Peter Jackson's to be THE best, this movie is fucking GREAT!

Granted, I think I maybe liked Godzilla (2014) better, but that's mostly an issue of tone and seriousness...but omg BOTH of these movies are AWESOME AS HELL and well worth the cost of a movie ticket if you have ANY love in your heart for Godzilla or King Kong. Like, srsly, if you're a fan AT ALL these movies should ROCK YOUR WORLD.

And, SPOILER ALERT, they're obviously thoroughly connected to one another and JMFC I cannot WAIT to see this shit come to fruition with the inevitable, preordained beatdown! YAAAAAASSSSSSS.

Sooooo many cool little connections if you pay attention and really just SO MUCH FUN.

Further details cross over into spoiler territory, so for now all I'll say is OMFG SEE THIS MOVIE IN 3D on the BIGGEST screen available and DEFINITELY stay till the end of the credits!!!

I haven't seen it yet but I definitely plan to. I'm giddy as all hell that America is finally doing their own inagining of the Toho universe, I am a gigantic Godzilla fan, I've seen every single film countless times, and I'm also a pretty big Kong fan. I heard about that post credits scene and nearly shit myself, because of a particular well-known adversary.

I mostly loved the 2014 Godzilla. I think Edwards was as faithful to the first-series Toho films as an American interpretation could be. I always felt that scene where you start to see blue slowly creep up Godzilla's back, the way it was shot, was on one hand total fan service in the best of ways, and also had this cheeky sort of 'hey tristar? You watching? This is how you do Godzilla motherfucker' vibe. Most of the criticisms of that film are stupid in my opinion. Godzilla actually has about as much screen time as many Toho films, and people don't realize that most of the Toho films have always been grounded in very simple human character dramas and conflicts, with Godzilla always being almost a secondary character. Americans just want Michael Bay-esque esplosions and smashy-smash fighting. I don't think they misused Bryan Cranston's character, but they definitely misused Bryan Cranston himself. The characters are sort of dull, the lead could have more raw emotion, and there's definitely some Spielberg-esque dumbass cliches. Other than that, it was a solid start and I'm excited for where it goes. Funnily enough, 2014 Godzilla was what I would've imagined Shin Godzilla to be more like, and vice versa. Shin Godzilla is a shit reboot, Toho's redesign is only a few steps above Tristar's attempt, and the entire film is boring and oddly too American-style 'real' and all over the place. I have no idea why that film was praised so much. It's baffling that the American Godzilla is now better than Toho's.

Back to Skull Island though, I hear it's wicked, which makes me happy. Still don't know how they're going to put him against Godzilla. Even in this film, Kong is significantly smaller than Godzilla.

Peter Jackson's Kong is the best? Are you insane? Granted it's a great film on its own, but nothing beats the original, even the 1976 film in my opinion is leagues better. The way Kong looks in Jackson's film always pissed me off a bit, because instead of being a unique, mysterious creature and one of its kind, it's more 'this is just a really really really big gorilla.'

LOL, I guess I missed the memo about King Kong being anything other than "just a really really really big gorilla," wtf.

Speaking of which, he's apparently just an adolescent in this movie so THERE YOU GO as far as matching him up against Godzilla in future films.

And, stereotypically misguided Michael Bay digs aside, I mostly agree with everything you just posted. That Toho movie was a solid FAIL from the first trailer onward and the 2014 movie fucking KILLS IT. Irony! People malign the 2014 movie soooo unjustly and without ANY sense of perspective, for real. When he was up against the M.O.T.U. and the camera slowly crawled up his spine to trace a path towards the inevitable, INCREDIBLE unleashing of his full, atomic power I was practically fucking SCREAMING YAAAAASSSSS in the aisles and it REALLY pissed me off to come home and hear everyone talking shit about it online as if they'd EVER seen a Godzilla movie even HALF as good as that since the original.

But, yeah, it had its shortcomings, sure...although I'd almost rather classify them as Godzilla Tropes rather than counting them against it. Likewise, we evidently disagree about Bryan Cranston's purpose in the movie. SPOILERS! I fucking LOVED that HE was the big draw and then almost immediately WHOOPS! NOPE! Haha, that was fucking brilliant and drew me into the tragedy even harder than before just as it was apparently turning everyone else off at the same time. Kneejerks for the FAIL, imho.

Annnd on a related note, if you like King Kong AT ALL there is almost literally NOTHING whatsoever to dislike about Peter Jackson's adaptation. It's practically the OG movie PLUS some poignant historical context from a true-blue fan AND it is 100% ON POINT and delivers the message PERFECTLY to such a degree that I've NEVER seen a dry eye in the house by the end of it. I defy ANYONE to convince me it's not THE perfect King Kong movie.

Well obviously Kong is an ape, but he was always more of a distinct creature. To start, he's largely bipedal. Jackson's Kong was through and through pretty much a gorilla, design and movement and behaviour and all. I get that he wanted Kong to be more 'grounded' and believable, but that's sort of counter to the point of what Kong is. I don't doubt Jackson's film, which I agree is amazing, is better than Skull Island going based on quality of the actual film, but Jackson's film is of course still below the par of the original or the 1976 version. That was my point.

It'd be great if it's indeed correct that Kong is not yet at his full size in this film. I kept thinking it'd look stupid to see him fight a monster literally over three times his size.

The way Edwards shot Godzilla was incredible, it hits the grand scale of the creature out of the park. Everyone was also bitchy about the MOTUs and how they feel Godzilla should've fought a Toho monster. I think the filmmakers were genius in having him start off with the MOTUs. It shows they can come up with original, pretty awesome creatures, which means they can really make a long-running franchise with their own stamp on it. There's literally three original series Toho monsters that wouldn't look ridiculous, or wouldn't be impossible to adequately write an Americanized plot around, all three of which were referenced in Skull Island. I'd blow anyone who could actually write a Mechagodzilla movie without the premise being laughably dumb. All other 'common' monsters would look kind of stupid in a modern film, even the good ones, I doubt we'll see Jet Jaguar in a Godzilla flick anytime soon. They could use some of the Heisei series one-off monsters like Biollante and Destoroyah, but they're almost entirely unknown to the general American audience. Overall this franchise is being handled about as well as it possibly can, and they're really keeping true to the source material.

Bryan Cranston's acting talents were without a doubt squandered, but the character they wrote for him would've been annoying to watch for an entire film. He carried the first act, but to see him screaming 'we don't know what you're hiding! Tell us the truth!' for two hours would've just made him another 'loopy paranoid scientist' cliche. Maybe if they toned down his craziness a bit, he could've taken over the place of Ken Watanabe's character, but that particular character was also awesome and necessary, aside from the five thousand shots of him staring into the distance.

To say 2014 Godzilla is the best film aside from the 1954 original is definitely a gigantic stretch. It's unarguably in the top 10 for sure, I'd place it at maybe my 7th favourite. There's a number of films in the Toho series it still doesn't hold a candle to, although there's definitely a lot that it blows out of the water.

I love this new Kong movie a lot, it's the best monster movie we've gotten since 2014's Godzilla for sure. I eagerly anticipate what's next because my inner child is bouncing up and down with glee. I remember watching all those old Toho Godzilla films when I was little renting them back to back from Blockbuster. Now that I am going to see fucking King Gidorah....In a fucking movie I am all on board.

In terms of the classic story of King Kong I still prefer the 33 original and Peter Jacksons version, like Haz said the PJ version is such a fucking love letter to the original and I love all the little easter eggs he threw in that if you have watched the 33 version a million times "like me" you pick up on that shit. However, I am totally glad they didn't go the typical "remake" route. We have seen the typical Kong formula so much. Sure, this movie didn't do this new formula perfect, but what does? I'm just glad this Kong survives and will actually be doing some badass shit in the future. My only complaint other than some minor plot nitpicks is that Skull Island didn't feel as oppressive or dangerous as the 33 original or PJ's version. We didn't get a lot of monster variety at all. Other than that though it was a perfect re-imagining for what will be an awesome monster fight movie in the future.

Sidenote: I bet King Gidorah is the villain in Kong Vs Godzilla, I can totally see Kong jumping on Gidorahs back and trying to rip off one of the heads. Ugh, I can't fucking wait to see that movie!

A system organized around the weakest qualities of individuals will produce these same qualities in its leaders.

I'd be physically infuriated if Ghidorah was in that film. Firstly, because having Ghidorah and Kong, two of Godzilla's most well known adversaries in the same film, would take too much spotlight off of both, I just want to see motherfucking Godzilla vs Kong. Second, Ghidorah is literally Godzilla's 'arch nemesis,' and that'd be blowing the load way, way too early. The studio is trying to create a cinematic universe now that everyone's doing it (they're bringing back Dracula and Frankenstein and The Wolfman guys!), and I could imagine it being possible that we could have American Godzilla films in the double digits if they do it right.

You gotta fucking buiiiiild uuuup to Ghidorah man, edge the fans who lost their shit at that post-credits sequence. There'll be another Godzilla film before Godzilla vs. Kong, and I'll bet my bollocks it'll start off with Mothra, there was even a semi-Easter egg mentioning Mothra in the 2014 film. That would be awesome to see, because while they'll still fight it out, Mothra is more complex, sort of a neutral creature, who's actually on the 'good side' and fights along with Godzilla later on in the Toho series. Also, Mothra is most known with the American layman. Rodan is a similar case of being more neutral when it comes to 'sides'. Ghidorah is the ultimate foe to Godzilla, I'd want them to hold that off as long as possible.

Here's where I disagree, considering that Kong Vs Godzilla is a ways off so it definitely wouldn't be a waste but come on man, they're not gonna have it be a straight up fight for a whole movie. They're gonna team up against something and it wouldn't make sense for it to be Rodan or Mothra. Those will be relegated to future Godzilla sequels. Hell I'm not even saying they would actually have Gidorah in the movie I just think it would be badass. He came back so many times in the Toho films. He was never one and done at all and there is no reason to put him on such a huge pedestal.

I have looked into it a bit further and the VS movie isn't coming out till 2020. They have a decent amount of time to lead up to it and build out this universe more. We're getting Godzilla 2 next year and that is gonna be a fucking awesome ride. 2019 will probably be something else as well. Also, the 2020 date is a placeholder they can easily push that back even further. So I personally do not think it would be a waste to have King Gidorah in this movie. It would be badass to see Kong and G fight Gidorah. It would make for an awesome tag team fight.

A system organized around the weakest qualities of individuals will produce these same qualities in its leaders.

Well obviously Kong is an ape, but he was always more of a distinct creature. To start, he's largely bipedal. Jackson's Kong was through and through pretty much a gorilla, design and movement and behaviour and all. I get that he wanted Kong to be more 'grounded' and believable, but that's sort of counter to the point of what Kong is. I don't doubt Jackson's film, which I agree is amazing, is better than Skull Island going based on quality of the actual film, but Jackson's film is of course still below the par of the original or the 1976 version. That was my point.

It'd be great if it's indeed correct that Kong is not yet at his full size in this film. I kept thinking it'd look stupid to see him fight a monster literally over three times his size.

The way Edwards shot Godzilla was incredible, it hits the grand scale of the creature out of the park. Everyone was also bitchy about the MOTUs and how they feel Godzilla should've fought a Toho monster. I think the filmmakers were genius in having him start off with the MOTUs. It shows they can come up with original, pretty awesome creatures, which means they can really make a long-running franchise with their own stamp on it. There's literally three original series Toho monsters that wouldn't look ridiculous, or wouldn't be impossible to adequately write an Americanized plot around, all three of which were referenced in Skull Island. I'd blow anyone who could actually write a Mechagodzilla movie without the premise being laughably dumb. All other 'common' monsters would look kind of stupid in a modern film, even the good ones, I doubt we'll see Jet Jaguar in a Godzilla flick anytime soon. They could use some of the Heisei series one-off monsters like Biollante and Destoroyah, but they're almost entirely unknown to the general American audience. Overall this franchise is being handled about as well as it possibly can, and they're really keeping true to the source material.

Bryan Cranston's acting talents were without a doubt squandered, but the character they wrote for him would've been annoying to watch for an entire film. He carried the first act, but to see him screaming 'we don't know what you're hiding! Tell us the truth!' for two hours would've just made him another 'loopy paranoid scientist' cliche. Maybe if they toned down his craziness a bit, he could've taken over the place of Ken Watanabe's character, but that particular character was also awesome and necessary, aside from the five thousand shots of him staring into the distance.

To say 2014 Godzilla is the best film aside from the 1954 original is definitely a gigantic stretch. It's unarguably in the top 10 for sure, I'd place it at maybe my 7th favourite. There's a number of films in the Toho series it still doesn't hold a candle to, although there's definitely a lot that it blows out of the water.

Originally Posted by FuckmanQ

I love this new Kong movie a lot, it's the best monster movie we've gotten since 2014's Godzilla for sure. I eagerly anticipate what's next because my inner child is bouncing up and down with glee. I remember watching all those old Toho Godzilla films when I was little renting them back to back from Blockbuster. Now that I am going to see fucking King Gidorah....In a fucking movie I am all on board.

In terms of the classic story of King Kong I still prefer the 33 original and Peter Jacksons version, like Haz said the PJ version is such a fucking love letter to the original and I love all the little easter eggs he threw in that if you have watched the 33 version a million times "like me" you pick up on that shit. However, I am totally glad they didn't go the typical "remake" route. We have seen the typical Kong formula so much. Sure, this movie didn't do this new formula perfect, but what does? I'm just glad this Kong survives and will actually be doing some badass shit in the future. My only complaint other than some minor plot nitpicks is that Skull Island didn't feel as oppressive or dangerous as the 33 original or PJ's version. We didn't get a lot of monster variety at all. Other than that though it was a perfect re-imagining for what will be an awesome monster fight movie in the future.

Sidenote: I bet King Gidorah is the villain in Kong Vs Godzilla, I can totally see Kong jumping on Gidorahs back and trying to rip off one of the heads. Ugh, I can't fucking wait to see that movie!

Originally Posted by Justsomeguy

I'd be physically infuriated if Ghidorah was in that film. Firstly, because having Ghidorah and Kong, two of Godzilla's most well known adversaries in the same film, would take too much spotlight off of both, I just want to see motherfucking Godzilla vs Kong. Second, Ghidorah is literally Godzilla's 'arch nemesis,' and that'd be blowing the load way, way too early. The studio is trying to create a cinematic universe now that everyone's doing it (they're bringing back Dracula and Frankenstein and The Wolfman guys!), and I could imagine it being possible that we could have American Godzilla films in the double digits if they do it right.

You gotta fucking buiiiiild uuuup to Ghidorah man, edge the fans who lost their shit at that post-credits sequence. There'll be another Godzilla film before Godzilla vs. Kong, and I'll bet my bollocks it'll start off with Mothra, there was even a semi-Easter egg mentioning Mothra in the 2014 film. That would be awesome to see, because while they'll still fight it out, Mothra is more complex, sort of a neutral creature, who's actually on the 'good side' and fights along with Godzilla later on in the Toho series. Also, Mothra is most known with the American layman. Rodan is a similar case of being more neutral when it comes to 'sides'. Ghidorah is the ultimate foe to Godzilla, I'd want them to hold that off as long as possible.

Originally Posted by FuckmanQ

Here's where I disagree, considering that Kong Vs Godzilla is a ways off so it definitely wouldn't be a waste but come on man, they're not gonna have it be a straight up fight for a whole movie. They're gonna team up against something and it wouldn't make sense for it to be Rodan or Mothra. Those will be relegated to future Godzilla sequels. Hell I'm not even saying they would actually have Gidorah in the movie I just think it would be badass. He came back so many times in the Toho films. He was never one and done at all and there is no reason to put him on such a huge pedestal.

I have looked into it a bit further and the VS movie isn't coming out till 2020. They have a decent amount of time to lead up to it and build out this universe more. We're getting Godzilla 2 next year and that is gonna be a fucking awesome ride. 2019 will probably be something else as well. Also, the 2020 date is a placeholder they can easily push that back even further. So I personally do not think it would be a waste to have King Gidorah in this movie. It would be badass to see Kong and G fight Gidorah. It would make for an awesome tag team fight.